the pod bay door

When I consider my top ten movies of the year, it’s a list of my ten favorite movies, not the ten best per se. I saw 91 movies last year, but that’s hardly enough to qualify me to consider which might be the ten best. I would have had to have seen about 150 more movies, as well as films that are released in NY and LA only at the end of December. For example, The Hours, and Adaptation have not played here yet, and About Schmidt opened here on January 3rd. The alphabetical list below is the ten films I saw in 2002 for the first time that moved me the most in any number of ways, and brought me the most enjoyment I experienced going to the movies.

Bloody Sunday
Far From Heaven
Gangs of New York
The Grey Zone
In The Bedroom (2001 film released in 2002 in Edmonton)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Minority Report
Max
No Man’s Land
Rabbit-Proof Fence

Honorable mentions: Gosford Park, The Royal Tenebaums, Apocalypse Now Redux, Kissing Jessica Stein, Monsoon Wedding, Insomnia, Lovely and Amazing, Tadpole, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Good Girl, One Hour Photo, startup.com, Bowling for Columbine, Secretary, Tully, Igby Goes Down, Auto Focus, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, Catch Me If You Can.

I saw my 91st and in all likelihood, final movie of 2002 last night: Rabbit-Proof Fence. Let there be no doubt that movies can still be simple yet overwhelming in their power, originality, and inspiration. This movie tells the story of three sisters, taken from their aboriginal home in 1931 in Western Australia by the government. Considered “half caste” because they have white fathers, they are taken to a camp with other half caste children, and taught the ways of the white man, with the ultimate goal being that the children grow up to marry white men and women, and eventually breed out their aboriginal past. Molly Craig, 14 years old, decides to take her younger sisters and escape from the camp, and walk 1,600 kilometers back to Jigalong, to their mother. It is a true story.

The film conveys how strong the ties of love and family can be – at a time when the world continues to spawn wars and terrorism, I found the movie to be life-affirming in the deepest way possible. Such a simple movie – three girls walking home, and yet such a powerful story. I was pleased to see David Gulpilil, whom you might remember from the groundbreaking Australian film Walkabout, in the role as the tracker, Moodoo. The movie also features a stirring score by Peter Gabriel and stunning cinematography by Christopher Doyle. A fascinating study guide is available, from the Australian movie magazine called Metro Magazine. As well, read this interview of Noyce and commentary on the film by a Canadian aboriginal, Carmen Daniels, currently living in Australia and contributor to the Aboriginal Youth Network.

This is a picture of director Phillip Noyce with the three actors who portrayed the girls in the movie: Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, and Laura Monaghan.

I will compile the list of my 10 favorite movies of 2002 soon. It is never a “best” list, because I don’t see everything.

Today, Dec 31, my mom turns 70. Happy Birthday, Mom!!! I love you lots.

Tonight was one of those memorable evenings. My friend Robert and his wife Mary asked me to babysit their amazing daughter, Tigana, while they went out for dinner. They are visiting from Lethbridge for the holidays. Tigana kept me busy for three hours, with reading, games, stencilling and general hijinks. I was worn out when the parents returned. Robert and I had a great visit afterwards, and I will see them again on Monday. When you visit and spend time with a good friend, the rewards are not measurable.

In last week’s NYTimes Magazine is a fascinating article about a movie called Decasia. The film was “made” by Bill Morrison, although he didn’t shoot a single frame. The film is composed of segments from movies that are decades-old, going back to the earliest films of the 20th century. However, these nitrate-based films have decayed and decomposed badly, and Morrison has grouped together bits from different US-based archives to craft a fascinating movie that according to what I’ve read, reveal a surreal beauty in the final stages of these films’ lives. The film has no distribution yet, but was shown on the Sundance Channel this week (not available in Canada :-(, of course). A number of reviews are available here, and here.
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How the FBI can monitor your movements on the Internet.

The weather in North America has been unforgiving in a number of locations recently. California is getting a lot of snow, Newfoundland has received its usual blizzard-like conditions, and just east of Alberta, in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, snow and icy conditions closed the Trans-Canada Highway east of Regina towards Winnipeg. In Edmonton, we have no snow. I repeat, no snow. Well, drive about town and you’ll see remnants of heavy November snowfall, but for now, grass is visible, although covered in frost because it is very cold here, -20C in the evenings. On the upside, the days begin to get longer now…

When I bought my ’96 Corolla in March, I had installed a remote starter. At this time of year, it’s a blessing, as I can start the car from inside my house when it is this cold. Another nifty feature is this: aim the starter at the car and hold down the starting button for five seconds. Do this, and the car will start itself every four hours and run for about 4-5 minutes. In sub-zero temperatures, this helps the car warm up faster when you start it to leave in the morning.

Christmas fast approaches. I’m off work until 2 January 2003. I have gifts to deliver tomorrow, and dinner with a good friend in from Vancouver tomorrow night. I saw LOTR: The Two Towers, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, and Gangs of New York this weekend.

A recent judgement by the High Court of Australia may not bode well for bloggers, who are rapidly growing accustomed to expressing whatever they feel in their blogs. Joseph Gutnick, an Australian mining magnate, was the subject of an article published in the Oct 28, 2000 Barron’s Online (and in the print equivalent journal, dated Oct 30 2000). Having considered the article defamatory, he sued in Australian court for damages.

The question was, would the fact that the publication of the article originated outside of Australia (on a server in New Jersey) prevent the lawsuit from proceeding, since the story was downloaded in Australia? The Court said no, and ruled that a lawsuit could be filed in Australia against Dow Jones & Co, who own Barron’s. Dow Jones appealed, and the appeal was dismissed. Opinions in favour of the judgement and against are appearing in increasing numbers. The growing concern is what some consider an impending threat to what the Internet provides for millions: a platform for free speech and expression. Some are saying the judgement could be critical, because it opens anyone who expresses an opinion of someone or something in another country to be subject to that country’s libel laws.

Someone likes the name of this blog.

FilmWise is a nifty site that poses movie quizzes, including Invisibles, wherein they digitally remove the bodies of actors from scenes, leaving only their clothing. You try to guess from which movie each scene is. Here’s the latest quiz. Good luck.

First of all, it’s Tuesday evening, I’ve returned from working out, and am inhaling toxic fumes in my house. Workers were here earlier today, ripped out my kitchen window, cleaned out the rotting wood and whatever else they found, reinstalled it with new window goop stuff, and the fumes are stomach turning. Thank God it’s “warm” out, all my windows are open and the overhead fan in the kitchen is rocking. But my stomach hurts.

It’s the beginning of the movie awards season. The New York Film Critics Circle named Far From Heaven Best Picture, Daniel Day-Lewis Best Actor for Gangs of New York, and Diane Lane Best Actress for Unfaithful (now that’s a surprise!). Far From Heaven won 5 awards. The winners of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards included About Schmidt for Best Picture, Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of NY) and Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt) for Best Actor (a tie), and Julianne Moore Best Actress for her work in Far From Heaven and The Hours. The Boston Society of Film Critics Awards are never predictable. Best Picture went to The Pianist, a Holocaust film and a comeback of sorts for Roman Polanski (note: official site is in French), Best Actor to Adrien Brody for The Pianist, and Best Actress to Maggie Gyllenhaal for Secretary. The information above comes from the brilliant page of Alex Fung, the Film Awards Archivist Supremo!

But wait, there’s more! From Anne comes this: The Hollywood Stock Exchange! YES! But what is it? “Buy shares of your favorite actors and their new movies and watch their values rise or fall based on their success. Stocks soar with a blockbuster opening at the box office and plummet with a bomb no one went to see.” You begin with $2,000,000 “Hollywood Dollars”. It sounds like a blast, I’m joining today!